The spinal column is a complex system of bones and connective tissues that provide support for the human body and protection for the spinal cord and nerves. The human spine is comprised of thirty-three vertebrae at birth and twenty-four as a mature adult. Between each pair of vertebrae is an intervertebral disc, which maintains the space between adjacent vertebrae and acts as a cushion under compressive, bending, and rotational loads and motions.
There are various disorders, diseases, and types of injury that the spinal column may experience in a lifetime. The problems may include, but are not limited to, scoliosis, kyphosis, excessive lordosis, spondylolisthesis, slipped or ruptured disc, degenerative disc disease, vertebral body fracture, and tumors. Persons suffering from any of the above conditions typically experience extreme and/or debilitating pain, and often times diminished nerve function.
Conventionally, orthopedic surgeons receive training in the use of orthopedic devices and the performance of surgical methods to correct vertebral column injuries and diseases by the application of methods and devices on cadavers. The amount of training for each surgeon is limited by the expense, availability, scheduling, and other logistic requirements associated with the use of cadavers.
Further, spine surgeons, when planning for a surgical procedure on a specific patient, are normally limited to a study of two-dimensional radiographic data and a complete lack of hands-on manipulation rehearsal of a method prior to operating on a patient. In recent years there has been a growing number of orthopedic practices and hospitals that have made the transition from film to all digital environments. Software based tools for orthopedic image review, analysis, and preoperative planning are becoming conventional tools of the orthopedic surgeon. While advances in surgical planning have been made, they are simply limited to improvements in providing two-dimensional data for study and planning. To receive hands-on training or to rehearse a surgical method, a surgeon is still limited to the use of cadavers.
With such training and rehearsal limitations, it is not uncommon during an actual surgical procedure for a surgeon to encounter unforeseen anatomical or biomechanical conditions that may require an immediate revision of the surgical plan as it proceeds. The need to provide more, less expensive ways to train surgeons or to permit hands-on surgery planning and rehearsal in the use of spinal surgery methods and devices is particularly needed in the treatment of spine conditions, such as scoliosis. It is not uncommon in the surgical treatment of scoliosis that forceful manipulation and realignment of the spinal column can be a long, complicated mechanical effort that often includes a serious threat of damage to the spinal cord.
Further, the biomechanical behavior and particularly soft tissue forces on the spinal column when applying methods and devices to a cadaver are far different from that which are normally experienced in a surgical procedure on a living patient.
Thus, a need exists for a three-dimensional hands-on spinal surgery modeling system that can be used by surgeons for training in the use of devices and methods, and that can also be used in the planning and manual rehearsal of surgical procedures for patients.